She narrowed her eyes mock suspiciously.
He chuckled, but then got serious. “You’re safe with me,” he promised.
“I know,” she said without thought. And she did. If she’d learned anything over the last…day? Jeez, had it really been just hours since he and Tiny had knocked on her hotel door?
As if he had the same thought, Gus asked, “How’s your tummy holding up? We’ll ask the flight attendant for some extra water when she comes around. You have to still be dehydrated after…you know…and having your blood sucked out in the jungle.”
Lord, thank goodness he hadn’t said the word diarrhea. She was embarrassed enough as it was. “You need some too.”
“Hell, we all need a long drink and a good meal,” Tiny said with a small smile on his face. His eyes were closed and his head was resting against the back of his seat, but it was a good reminder that she and Gus weren’t exactly alone and had no privacy.
The pilot came on and announced that they were about to take off. Minutes later, as the plane rose in the air, Reese let out a long, relieved sigh. She was suddenly exhausted. The day was finally taking a toll on her and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. Her muscles were sore from being clenched in terror and she did feel a little off after not eating for basically two days, then running around like she was some sort of GI Jane.
“Sleep,” Gus ordered as he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him.
Reese went gladly. She shifted in her seat to try to get a little more comfortable, and Gus pulled back just long enough to raise the armrest between them before settling her against him once more.
She sighed and closed her eyes.
“Think about it. I promise you’ll love The Refuge. Alaska and Henley will be thrilled to meet you. And you’ll love Melba and Scarlet Pimpernickel and all the other animals.”
Reese smiled. She’d seen pictures of the cow and calf on the website…and she felt a little tendril of excitement run through her. “If Woody goes, I will too,” she mumbled sleepily.
Gus’s arm tightened around her for a moment before relaxing. “Good.”
There were logistics Reese needed to straighten out. So many. Like letting her boss know what was going on, buying clothes, paying her bills remotely, replacing her credit cards and cell phone, getting a new ID, and probably a hundred other things…but for now, she was done. Mentally and physically.
She let herself relax. She was safe, her brother was safe…and she was in the arms of the man she’d had a crush on forever, who she’d honestly never expected to see again. She’d worry about the future later.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Didn’t you just leave, like, yesterday?” Brick asked when Spike entered the lodge at The Refuge with Tiny, Woody, Isabella, Angelo, and Reese.
“And why am I not surprised that you returned with four extra people?” Stone said with a laugh.
Spike would’ve felt bad, but he knew his friends were joking. The first thing Brick had done when he saw them enter was go to the kitchen and ask Luna and Robert to make a bunch of extra food for breakfast.
They’d landed in Dallas for their layover with no issues, but then had to deal with some red tape in order for Isabella and Angelo to enter the country. But Tex came through again, and after some negotiating and a few emails back and forth, they were granted asylum and allowed to continue to their next flight to Santa Fe.
The sun had just come up, and even though Spike was exhausted, he was also wired. Thrilled that Reese and her brother had agreed to come to The Refuge. Isabella and Reese had wanted Woody to promise he’d go to the hospital the second they reached Santa Fe, but like Spike expected, he’d refused, saying a gunshot wound would cause more questions than he was comfortable answering. He didn’t want to do anything that might bring attention to himself, or to Isabella and her brother.
So Spike and Tiny had done their best to clean and patch him up at the airport in Dallas. He’d been lucky. While his arm would be damn sore for a while, the bullet had gone straight through and hadn’t hit any vital blood vessels or arteries. Woody had always been a tough son of a bitch, and this proved that little had changed since they’d left the teams.
And his sister was equally tough. She was the reason they were all standing here now, in fact. If it hadn’t been for her having the truck ready to go, and her incredible driving ability, they’d all either be dead or back in that bunker, being held hostage.
They were escorted to one of the largest conference rooms in the lodge, and Reese and Isabella were now on the other side of the room being fussed over by Alaska and Henley. They were sitting at a table, and Jasna, Henley’s daughter, was going back and forth from the kitchen, bringing water, plates and silverware, and some fresh-squeezed orange juice. Robert and Luna would soon bring in breakfast, so everyone could eat before they headed to their cabins for some much-needed down time.
Angelo was sitting to the side of the room by himself, with his arms crossed, looking uncertain. Spike hated not being able to communicate with the kid—because he had a lot of questions. Questions only Angelo could answer. Nothing about what they’d all just been through made much sense, and Spike had a feeling Angelo would be able to fill in a lot of the holes.
“Want to give us a rundown of what happened?” Brick asked once the women were occupied. It wasn’t that they were purposely trying to talk without the others overhearing, but they were used to keeping what they did on the down-low. Not to mention, they didn’t want to upset Isabella and Reese by rehashing the close call they’d had.
“Woody? You want to start?” Spike asked.
His former teammate nodded. “As you know by now, I went down to Colombia because Bella called me in a panic. She said she thought the apartment was being watched, and she was scared, both for herself and Angelo. She’d been hearing rumors at work that certain people weren’t happy about her assignments with the government. She feared either being kidnapped herself, or someone using her brother to force her to give up information about some of the clients she’d translated for in the past.” He ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “I’d basically do anything for her. I’ve loved her forever, but we both made excuse after excuse as to why we wouldn’t work. That didn’t keep us from calling and communicating on a regular basis.
“Anyway, I told Reesie where I was going and caught the next flight out. I went straight to Isabella’s apartment. I didn’t see people lurking around, didn’t get the sense that anyone was watching. I stupidly figured she was overreacting. But clearly my instincts have dulled since leaving the military.” He shook his head. “I had one perfect day and night with Bella before the shit hit the fan.”
Woody sighed. “The men who took us…they basically just walked right into the apartment. They knocked me around a little bit, but it wasn’t necessary. I wouldn’t have risked Isabella’s safety by doing anything stupid. We did what they asked without protest. They took all three of us to that house where you found us. Locked Bella and me in one room, and put Angelo in the other.”
“What did they want you for?” Pipe asked.